The world's first cancer vaccine was administered in Australia exactly 10 years ago.
Since
then, the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine has been rolled out
across 130 countries and halved the number of new cervical cancers.
The HPV vaccine also protects against cancers in the throat and mouth in both men and women.
Prof Ian Frazer said the vaccine could eradicate cancers caused by HPV within 40 years.
"It
helps not only control cervical cancer but also the oropharyngeal
cancer - the cancers inside the mouth that are caused by these viruses,"
Prof Frazer, chief executive of the Translational Research Institute,
said.
"If we vaccinate enough people we will eliminate these
viruses because they only infect humans. And in Australia there's
already been a 90% reduction in infections in the 10 years the programme
has been running."
Very common indeed'
HPV is a
very common virus that lives on our skin and other areas of the body,
including the mouth, genital areas and anus. It can be passed through
skin-to-skin contact and genital contact.
The virus is most often passed during vaginal and anal sex, but can also be transmitted through oral sex.
"The papilloma viruses that cause cancer are very common indeed," Prof Frazer said.
"Most
people get rid of the virus themselves without knowing they've
contracted it, but 1% of the
population that get it get persistent
infection that lasts over five years. If they do that they've got a very
good chance they'll get a cancer."
Prof Frazer, the late
molecular virologist Dr Jian Zhou and a research team used genetic
engineering to build a virus replica to create the vaccine. With
millions of doses of the vaccine administered
worldwide, the number of
new cases of cervical cancer has reportedly halved.
"We know that 170 million doses of vaccine have been given out," Prof Frazer said.
"If you do the sums on that, one in a hundred people were going to get a cancer that could kill them."
Still improving
Some
parents have reservations about their children being vaccinated on the
grounds that it may encourage promiscuity. Others object to vaccinations
over safety fears.
"In countries like the US where the vaccine
isn't so widely taken up, that's a little bit disappointing because
cervical cancer still kills several thousand women in the US," he said.
"Then, of course, we've got the problem of the 250,000 people that die from cervical cancer in the developing world."
Researchers are continuing to refine the effectiveness of the vaccine and ensure more widespread inoculation.
"We're
moving from a vaccine that protects against two common strains of the
virus that cause cancer to a vaccine that protects against nine common
strains," Prof Frazer said.
"If we get that rolled out we will eventually get rid of all cancers that get caused by this virus."
